Listen

More

Brazilian youth take to social media and gather at luxury malls

Jan. 21, 2014, 3:11 PM UTC

Brazilian youth take to social media and gather at luxury malls

Jan. 21, 2014, 3:11 PM UTC

In the last couple of months young people in Brazil have been gathering in large, rowdy groups at some of Sao Paolo’s luxury malls. In some cases as many as several hundred people at a time have taken part in what some have described as "flash mobs." The gatherings, which are organized via Facebook, are known as rolezhinhos. Most of the participants tend to be poor and black and often come from the city’s outskirts. At least one mall was forced to shut its doors during a rolezinhos. The gatherings have become so frequent that the government convened a special meeting to talk about what to do. Marcelo Jarmendia is the founder and director of Brazil in Chicago and president of the Casa da Cultura Brasileira.He’s received an invite to one of these flash mobs. He tells us why so many young people are joining in.
(Twitter)